LOGINWillow’s POV“I couldn’t find you.” Mordecai murmured into my hair.The words hit me hard. He didn’t sound like the Kingslayer. He didn’t sound like the man who had executed a girl in front of the entire pack without blinking, or the man who cut down rogues without ever glancing back.He looked like a man who had thought that he had lost something priceless that he couldn’t get back.I wrapped my arms around him without thinking, holding on tightly.After a while he pulled back, though he didn’t let go of my hand, his fingers held mine like he had no intention of ever losing that grip again.His eyes narrowed as he studied me properly. “You’re shaking.”“I’m fine,” I said. It came out weak even to my own ears.He clearly didn’t believe it. He didn’t say anything, just waited, his gaze on my face.I hesitated. “Something happened. After we got separated.”His jaw tightened immediately. “What happened?”“A rogue chased me. All the way to the apothecary garden.” I stopped there, my mouth
Willow’s POVI stood at the edge of the garden for a long time, staring at the vines like they might do something again if I watched long enough.They didn’t.They just sat there, ordinary and still, the same rows I had knelt in a hundred times before, tending them with my own hands. The garden looked exactly the way it always had, peaceful and quiet, like nothing had happened at all.I almost convinced myself I had imagined it.The battle was still going on somewhere beyond the walls, but the sounds had shifted. It was not quieter and farther. I forced myself to move, glancing back once at the vines before stepping through the door.The scene outside was nothing like the one I had run from.The chaos had eased, though it hadn’t ended completely.Small groups of Blood Moon warriors moved through the grounds, chasing down the remaining rogues, while others carried wounded pack members toward the clinic, their faces stained with blood and dirt. Bodies littered in every direction, and th
Willow’s POVMordecai’s hand stayed locked on mine as he cut through the chaos, his sword slicing rogue after rogue that made the mistake of stepping into our path.For a few seconds, I believed we were actually going to make it out of the courtyard and to safety.The Blood Moon warriors were pushing the invaders back on every side. It almost felt like the battle was turning.Then more rogues joined the fight.Over double the rogues that were there before.Most of them had their eyes fixed on Mordecai. There was fear in their eyes, like a prey that knows the predator will kill it but had decided to attack anyway.They knew exactly who he was.And they threw themselves at him anyway.Mordecai didn’t slow down. His sword took the first one’s throat before it even reached him. The second died mid-leap, its body crumpling before it hit the ground. A third lost its head in a single clean arc, and he kept moving forward the entire time, dragging me with him like nothing in the world could m
Willow’s POVThe rogue lunged.For one moment, I wasn’t standing in the courtyard anymore. I was back in the forest, rain pouring down my collar, claws tearing through my side, jaws snapping toward my throat while I lay helpless in the mud waiting to die. The memory crashed into me so hard I froze.I threw myself sideways at the last possible second.The rogue’s claws sliced through the air exactly where I had been standing, close enough that I felt the air shift against my skin.I hit the ground hard and rolled before scrambling back to my feet, my heart slamming against my ribs.The rogue turned, snarling, already preparing for another attack.It never got the chance.Something huge slammed into it from the side, the impact was so hard it sent the rogue several feet across the courtyard before it crashed into the wall.I stared.The wolf that had hit it was massive, it had reddish-brown fur soaked with blood that wasn’t its own, and it took me a full second to place him.Robin.I had
Willow’s POVBy the time we reached the clinic, I had stopped paying attention to either of them, mostly because I didn’t have the energy to do it properly.The healer looked at my new bruises, then at the old fading ones, then released a tired sigh before handing me another vial and telling me to rest. I didn’t bother telling her that I wasn’t going to follow her instructions. She knew that already.I went to the apothecary garden because I needed somewhere quiet—somewhere without Vincent narrating my failures or Diana arguing. I needed somewhere I could be alone with my thoughts while keeping my hands busy.An hour passed. Maybe two. The soreness in my body eased slightly the longer I stayed.After a while, I told myself that was enough for today.I stood, brushed the dirt from my knees, and made my way back toward the building.That was when I noticed something felt wrong.At first I couldn’t place it. The pack looked the same as always with warriors moving up and down, other pack
Willow’s POVI barely slept.My mind wouldn't stop racing. I lay there for hours, staring at the ceiling, replaying everything over and over until the sky outside my window started to brighten slowly.By the time the day was breaking, I hadn’t slept more than an hour, and I was in a foul mood.I still got up and got dressed anyway. I told myself I wasn’t going to skip training after only one day, no matter how tired or irritable I felt.Quitting after the first training session would have been pathetic, and I refused to be pathetic.Hela was the only one in the training grounds, and just like yesterday, she stood with her arms crossed.“You look terrible,” she stated.“Good morning to you too.”"Stretch," she ordered.I resisted the urge to groan as I stretched my still sore muscles.“Get in the ring,” Hela instructed after some minutes of stretching.I got in the ring.The first attack I threw was sloppy.I knew it the moment I threw my fist that my weight was wrong, and my feet w
Willow’s POVAlpha Kelvin clasped his hands behind his back and looked at me with the same flat expression he used in pack meetings. “I’m talking about Stacey Holt and Noah,” he continued. “Their child.” He paused. “From your current state, I assume you have heard already.”My mouth opened and clo
Willow’s POVI don’t know how long I sat there sobbing my heart out.My throat started to ache and my body ran out of the energy to cry. I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them as I just sat there in my tiny room, staring at nothing.My room had been a storage room once, bu
Willow’s POVI pushed Noah back with both hands until he let go of me.“It changes nothing?” I echoed flatly.He blinked. “I just meant—”“That’s what you just said to me. It changes nothing.” I glared at him through my tears. “Do you hear yourself?”“Willow —”“Am I supposed to feel better right n
Willow’s POVI didn’t know when I stopped breathing. I didn’t know when the paper and pouch the healer had given me slipped from my fingers. I was standing in the doorway and my vision had gone strange, like everything was suddenly too bright, and their voices had started sounding like they were co







